Bruno Racine (born 17 December 1951 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) is a French civil servant and writer.

Early life and education

Racine is the son of Pierre Racine (a conseiller d'État) and Edwina Morgulis, Bruno Racine was born in

. He studied at the École La Rochefoucauld then at the

lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on rue Saint-Jacques in central Paris. It was founded in the ...

before entering the

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

in 1971 and obtaining an agrégation in "lettres classiques". He also followed courses at the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

and entered the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

in 1977.

Career

Racine left the ENA for the

Cour des Comptes The ''Cour des Comptes'' ("Court of Accounts") is France's supreme audit institution, under French law an administrative court. As such, it is independent from the legislative and executive branches of the French Government. However, the 1946 and ...

where he was named auditor in 1979 then "conseiller référendaire" in 1983. On 5 September 1981, he married Béatrice de Bégon de Larouzière-Montlosier, and they have had 4 children. Racine entered the service for strategic affairs and disarmament in the Ministry of Foreign Relations (1983–1986) before joining the cabinet of Jacques Chirac,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

as a ' chargé de mission' (1986–1988). In 1988, he was named director of cultural affairs for the city of Paris, occupying that post until 1993, when he joined the cabinet of

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans (France), The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced 1995 strikes ...

, again as "chargé de mission auprès du ministre", and at the same time director of the Centre d'analyse et de prévision (1993–1995). He then followed him to Matignon as "chargé de mission auprès du Premier ministre", with particular concern for the cultural and strategic portfolios (1995–1997). Promoted to conseiller maître à la Cour des comptes (1996), Racine became director of the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in ...

(1997–2002) before being named president of the Centre Georges-Pompidou (2002). In March 2007, Racine was made president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, to take effect on 2 April 2007, succeeding

Jean-Noël Jeanneney Jean-Noël Jeanneney (born 2 April 1942, in Grenoble) is a French historian and politician. He is the son of Jean-Marcel Jeanneney and the grandson of Jules Jeanneney, both important figures in French politics. Education After his secondary scho ...

, who had reached the age limit for that post. Following the declaration in January 2009 by

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

Christine Albanel Christine Albanel (born 25 June 1955) is a French politician and civil servant. From May 2007 to June 2009, she was France's Minister for Culture and Communication in François Fillon's government. Early career Albanel is agrégé in classica ...

that the archives of Guy Debord constituted a

national treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the funda ...

, Racine was tasked with ensuring the necessary funds – amounting to several hundred thousand euros – for the BNF to purchase them from

Alice Becker-Ho Alice Becker-Ho, also known as Alice Debord (born August 6, 1941), is a Chinese-born French intellectual closely associated with the Situationist International. Among other works, she has written poetry, a scholarly study of slang, and a trave ...

, Debord's widow. Following his departure in 2016, Racine was succeeded as president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France by

Laurence Engel Laurence Engel (born on 17 September 1966) is a French essayist and senior civil servant. In 2016, she was appointed president of the Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France' ...

, who took up the post on the 11 April 2016,

Other activities

* Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS), Member of the Board of Directors (since 2001)Governance
Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS). * Haut conseil de l’éducation, Member (since 2005)

Works

* ''Le Gouverneur de Morée'', 1982, Prix du Premier Roman * ''Terre de promission'', 1986 * ''Au péril de la mer'', 1991,

Prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt. The name derives from ...

1992 * ''La Séparation des biens'', 1999, Prix La Bruyère from the Académie française 1999 * ''L'Art de vivre à Rome'' (collaboration), 1999, Grand prix du livre des arts from the

Société des gens de lettres Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

2000 * ''L'Art de vivre en Toscane'', 2000 * ''Le tombeau de la Chrétienne'', 2002 * ''Le côté d'Odessa'', 2007 * ''Google et le nouveau monde'', 2010 * ''Adieu à l'Italie'', 2012

Honours

*Knight of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

* '' Who's Who in France'', 34e édition, 2002–2003, Levallois-Perret, Éditions Jacques Lafitte, 2002, p. 1566 {{DEFAULTSORT:Racine, Bruno 1951 births Living people Writers from Paris French civil servants Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni École Normale Supérieure alumni Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Prix des Deux Magots winners Prix du premier roman winners French male writers Officers of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres